Monthly Awards

Athlete of the Month - June 2010
Laura Reynolds - Peninsula Water Polo

We would like to nominate Laura Reynolds for Water Polo Athlete of the Month.

Laura is a Masters Water Polo athlete who not only plays, she also coaches, refs and serves as President of her club. Laura is 48 years old, and lives in Atherton, California. Laura started out as a (very fast) swimmer. She swam through high school, and then for 3 years in college at Brown, and held records in 1981 in the 100 Fly (58:08) and 200 Fly (2:08:18). She dabbled in club water polo in college, founding the water polo club team at Brown. After starting a career as a lawyer, getting married and starting a family, she picked up the sport again in 2005, having been inspired by watching her niece and nephews play over the prior 15 years or so.

Laura is a lefty who plays hole set/2 meter offense. As anyone who has tried to defend her can attest, she has a wicked backhand! She has an enthusiasm for the sport that is contagious, and is an ambassador to all who even think about giving water polo a try.

Together with some team mates, Laura founded Peninsula Water Polo (www.peninsulawaterpolo.com) in the fall of 2007, with a stated mission of promoting the sport of water polo for all interested participants. The club practices at Woodside High School in Woodside, CA.

Over the summer of 2009, PWP offered a beginner's clinic, which Laura taught on Saturday mornings to teach new players and to help players returning to the game to dust off their skills. The club currently offers Women's Masters workouts three times per week, for players ranging in age from their 20s to their 60s, as well as weekly Men's Masters (open age group) Scrimmages. In April, 2010, PWP hosted its third annual Splashdown tournament with women's games on Saturday and the men playing on Sunday. Other events of note for PWP under Laura's leadership include serving as one of the host pools for the 2009 Junior Olympics and 'friends and family' open practices several times a year to try to promote broader participation. Laura has been instrumental in organizing each of these developments.

Laura is USAWP Coach Certified, coaches the Woodside High School varsity girls water polo team, has taken several referee clinics and assistant coached the first ever Women's 50+ games at the 2006 FINA Masters World Championship games held at Stanford, CA.

Athlete of the Month might not be quite 'big' enough for everything Laura does for our sport, but it's a good start!